> We eventually gained each others trust, and our visions started to coalesce, but only after spinning our wheels for 6 months. > Everyone on the team suffered

> We eventually gained each others trust, and our visions started to coalesce, but only after spinning our wheels for 6 months. > Everyone on the team suffered from burnout. > 11 months later, our team decided to cancel the project. My guess is that the lack of a singular clear vision caused everyone to become disenfranchised / burnt-out in the first six months, and it took another 5 months for people to realize the project wasn't going anywhere. I think the story underlines the importance of having product leadership - it's all well and good to have a flat organization when the product is already defined and the only thing left is adding features / fixing bugs (as is the case with the github platform), but if you are starting from scratch you can't expect a product grow to grow organically from the combined whims of individual contributors. > The best software comes from a team where everyone shares a vision, cares deeply about the result, and are motivated to make it happen. Definitely! > That level of caring and motivation can only come from people that had a role in crafting the vision and own a piece of it. Yes, but Design by Committee is a cliché for a reason.